Israel calls on residents of southern Lebanon not to return until further notice

Photo: Agence France-Presse “For your own protection, do not return to your homes until further notice. Do not head south; anyone who heads south risks putting their lives in danger,” army spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote in an Arabic message on X.

Jay Deshmukh – Agence France-Presse Respectively in Jerusalem and Beirut

Posted at 10:19 am

• Middle East

The Israeli army, which is at war with Hezbollah in southern Lebanon, on Saturday ordered residents of the region not to return home, as the Lebanese movement launched a new missile attack on northern Israel.

As Israel celebrates Yom Kippur, the holiest day in Judaism, its troops are battling Hezbollah in Lebanon and Hamas in Gaza, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowing to continue the fight against these Islamist groups allied with Iran “until victory.”

The war in Gaza, triggered by an unprecedented Hamas attack on Israeli soil on October 7, 2023, and the war in Lebanon are accompanied by an escalation between Israel and Iran, with Israeli leaders threatening to retaliate for an Iranian missile attack on October 1.

“For your own protection, do not return to your homes until further notice. Do not head south; “Anyone who goes south risks putting their lives in danger,” army spokesman Avichay Adraee wrote in an Arabic message on X.

After Israeli airstrikes intensified on September 23 in southern Lebanon, a Hezbollah stronghold bordering northern Israel, tens of thousands of families fled the region, according to Lebanese authorities and the UN.

The army also warned health workers in southern Lebanon to stay away from ambulances that it says Hezbollah is using to “transport terrorists and weapons.”

Israel celebrates Yom Kippur

New Israeli bombings have targeted southern Lebanon, as Hezbollah announced it had fired missiles at a military base near Haifa, a day after drone strikes on the major city in northern Israel.

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These hostilities take place as Israel celebrates Yom Kippur, the day of “great atonement,” from Friday night to Saturday night, when almost everything in the country comes to a standstill: the borders, airports and most businesses are closed and public transport is not running. no.

After weakening Hamas in Gaza, Israel shifted the war front to Lebanon in September, with the aim of pushing Hezbollah away from the border areas and stopping its rocket fire to allow the return to northern Israel of some 60,000 displaced residents.

The front opened in October 2023 by Hezbollah against Israel, in support of Hamas, turned into open war on September 23 with the start of intense Israeli bombardments on Hezbollah strongholds in Lebanon.

The Israeli army also launched a ground offensive on September 30 in southern Lebanon.

Escalation between Iran and Israel

Israel came under fire Friday after firing on the UN Interim Force in southern Lebanon, injuring four peacekeepers in a 48-hour period.

US President Joe Biden has called on Israel to stop firing on UN forces in Lebanon, while his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron has deemed it “unacceptable” that they are being targeted “deliberately by Israeli forces.”

The Israeli army said on Friday that it had fired in the direction of a “threat.”

Since October 2023, more than 2,100 people have been killed in Lebanon, including more than 1,200 since September 23, according to an AFP count based on official figures. The UN has counted nearly 700,000 displaced people.

On Saturday, Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf visited the site of an Israeli strike in central Beirut that killed at least 22 people on Thursday.

The day before, Iran reiterated that it was “ready to defend its sovereignty,” while Israel promised its arch-enemy a “deadly, precise and surprising attack” when it launched missiles on October 1.

“Children are dying”

In the devastated and besieged Gaza Strip, the Israeli army continued its offensive, mainly pounding the Jabalia region, where it accuses Hamas of seeking to rebuild its forces.

According to the local Civil Defense, 30 Palestinians were killed in strikes on Jabalia on Friday.

Several of the bodies were taken to Al-Ahli hospital in Gaza, according to AFP footage shows a relative hugging the lifeless body of a child.

Not far away, a man cries next to bodies. “Children are dying, this girl is only two months old. What did she do to deserve this?”

Israel has called on residents of an area near Jabalia to evacuate.

The Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,206 people in Israel, the majority of them civilians, according to an AFP count based on official Israeli figures and including hostages killed or held captive in Gaza.

At least 42,175 Palestinians have been killed, the majority of them civilians, in the Israeli offensive in Gaza, according to data from the Hamas government's Health Ministry, deemed reliable by the UN.